


"Please Don't"

by LarryLashton98



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Ashton Whump, Ashton hopes it's a nightmare, Ashton-centric, Band Cuddle, Character Death, Comforting boys, Crying, Crying Ashton, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Ashton, Mean Calum, Mean Luke, Mean Michael, Sad Ashton, Scared Ashton, Scared Calum, Scared Luke, Scared Michael, Swearing, The boys love Ashton, Violence, hurt ashton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-03-28 22:30:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3872149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarryLashton98/pseuds/LarryLashton98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashton wakes up disorient, tied to a chair, and drenched in gasoline. The other boys are there, but they don't seem keen to help...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Flames

The smell was the first thing that hit Ashton. An intoxicating stench that surrounded him. He felt wet and cold all over his body and it took a few seconds for his mind to catch up. Ashton was covered in gasoline, tied to a chair. He was soaked from head to toe, his hair and clothes dripping from the extensive amounts of the awful-smelling chemical. His head was hanging, eyes closed, praying that this was a nightmare. Why else would he be covered in gas?

“Hey, asshole. You're so fucking stupid, and not worth anything. Do you- hey, dumbfuck, look at me when I'm talking to you!”

Ashton looked up and his breath got caught in his throat. Luke, Calum and Michael were standing in front of him, glaring at him in disgust like he was the most repelling thing they've ever seen. It had been Luke talking.

“Do you even think that you actually amount to something in this world?”

Calum sneered at him “Look at you, you're so pathetic, tied to a chair with a scared look in your eyes. I don't know why we wanted you in our band. You're an awful drummer and a waste of time and space.” The tone Calum was using shocked Ashton. What had he done to deserve this? He couldn't remember doing anything to anger the usual soft-spoken boy.

Michael laughed “I think it's time you killed yourself Mr. Everyone-Loves-Me-Because-I'm-Ashton-Irwin. You self-centered bastard. Why didn't you end yourself earlier? It would solve a lot of problems and made so many people happier. No one loves you, bitch.”

Tears welled in Ashton's eyes. He couldn't believe that these were the boys he considered his brothers, the boys he loved. No, these three in front of him weren't his boys. They couldn't be. Something must have happened to them, made them not know what they were saying. Twisting their minds. They didn't really think that about him, did they? Ashton didn't even know anymore. The gasoline had started running into his eyes, making them sting more than he thought possible. He reached up to scratch his eyes to stop the pain and get the gas out.

“Aww, is the poor baby going to start crying?” Calum asked with a fake concerned tone in his voice. Luke and Michael cracked up like it was the funniest joke they've heard. “Wittle baby Ashton can't handle a little pain.” Calum turned to the other two “What do you think? Should we teach him a lesson about how he was stupid and naïve to think that he actually meant something to us? To the whole world?”

Michael grinned as he pulled out a knife and held it out pointing it at Ashton, tracing under his jaw pressing hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to draw blood. “C'mon, bitch, I'm going to show you what to do as punishment for your stupidness.”

He grabbed Ashton's right arm and put the point of the knife on his wrist. Ashton screeched and tried to pull away, but it was to no avail. His wrists were tied to the arm of the chair, and rather than getting out of Michael's grasp, Michael tightened up, his grip hard enough to bruise, and a bead of blood pooled from his skin where the knife pierced his skin.

“Please, don't do this, Michael,” Ashton begged, tears spilling. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry for whatever it is that I did. Just please stop.”

“It's a bit too late for that now, isn't it. And I think the real question is, what didn't you do? You messed everything up.” Michael dragged the knife up his arm, leaving a line of blood starting from his wrist up to his elbow. How could Michael do something like this? He'd never, ever thought that Michael would hurt him.

“No” The whisper was pulled from the back of his throat. “Please stop.” Suddenly there was a stinging on his left cheek. Luke had slapped him. Hard.

“Shut up. What makes you think that we'll do as you say, huh?” Ashton couldn't believe that this was the same Luke that snuggled up to him during thunderstorms when he got scared. The same Luke who hugged Ashton and kissed his forehead for making him food. The sam-

Ashton doubled over, gasping for breath as his stomach exploded in pain. He blinked to clear his eyes and looked up to see that it had been Calum who had punched him.

“Why?” Was all that Ashton could get out.

“Why do you think? Huh? Or is your head too fucked up to figure it out? You disgust me, Ashton. Disgust us.” He motioned to the other two. “We wasted our time on you when we should have gotten a different drummer for our band. One that actually knew how to play. I think it's time to do what we want to do now. Rid this world of you. No one will miss you. In fact, the whole world will be celebrating that there's no more motherfucking bitch of a whore like you.” The tears were streaming down his cheeks by the time Calum finished speaking.

Luke pulled something out of his pocket. It was small and hard to see, but Ashton could tell it was a matchbook. His blood went cold as he realized what was happening. Why he was tied to a chair in the middle of nowhere, covered in gasoline.

“No, no. No! Please don't, please. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't” His voice caught in his throat as sobs threatened to escape.

The gas was still dripping from his hair, pooling in a puddle at his feet. Luke struck the match and held it near the puddle. “Oh, but we will. There really is no point of you being here. It really would be the best for everybody, you know.” And with that, Luke dropped the lit match in the gasoline.

The flames spread quickly, catching on the gasoline, fuelling the fire and making the flames bigger. The large flames were now surrounding Ashton. He screamed in terror as he struggled in a last attempt to escape. To loosen the knots that were holding Ashton to the chair in the middle of the fire. Ashton could feel the fire start to crawl up his legs. The pain was more intense than he ever felt before. He was openly sobbing between screams as the fire consumed his body. He closed his eyes, hoping that if he squeezed them tight enough, this would all disappear. The heat was overwhelming as his vision turned red. He couldn't feel below his waist anymore. He choked out one last “No” before his vision turned black.


	2. Screams

Ashton, Luke, Michael, and Calum were cuddled up on the couch when Ashton started squirming. He had fallen asleep while they were watching TV on the tour bus, and they didn't have the heart to wake him up. They haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately, and it was affecting Ashton the most. He had always been the one who stayed up last to make sure everyone else goes to bed. So when he was curled up between Luke and Michael and nodded off part way into the show, they let him sleep.

He had always been protective and taking care of them and they thought he deserved a break. They honestly didn't know what they would do without him. In interviews, they said that Ashton was the father of the band. It had started out as a joke, but they soon realized it was true. He was always there when they needed someone to talk to, need a helping hand, or a shoulder to cry on.

Luke always said that they'd starve to death without his cooking. Calum thought they'd never get anything done without Ashton keeping them on track and on schedule. Michael knew they would still be in his garage, drummer-less and going nowhere, if he hadn't found Ashton or if Ashton didn't want to be in their band.

Calum always thought that Ashton was adorable when he was sleeping, with little puffs of air leaving through his partly opened lips. Luke liked how he was clingy like a koala bear when dozing. Michael loved to see how his face looked young, peaceful and at ease when he wasn't worried about his boys. They didn't get to see it very often, with Ashton being the last to bed and first up in the morning.

They were sitting there in silence when Ashton started withering around, restless. Michael subconsciously put his arm around the curly-haired drummer to calm him down, but all that it amounted to was Ashton flinching and letting out a whimper. That caught their attention pretty quick.

“Ashton?” Michael asked, rubbing his hand up and down Ashton's arm to provide comfort which resulted in more whimpers and a quite, 'no' that broke their hearts.

Calum looked over at Aston and saw his face contorted with pain. He turned up at the other two with an upset look, “Nightmare?” he asked in a small voice. He hated it when Ashton was upset or hurt. They all did. It didn't suit his happy-go-lucky face, personality and attitude at all.

Luke pouted. “Looks like it. Did he seem upset earlier? Something that would make him have bad dreams? He doesn't usually get nightmares.” Luke paused for a second. “At least, I don't think he does. I'm usually asleep before him.”

Luke brought up his hand to cupped Ashton's cheek when he saw tears spill from his eyes. As his hand touched Ashton, the upset boy flinched so hard they were surprised he didn't break his neck. Luke starred in a stupor. Ashton had never pulled away from him like that. Never. He normally nuzzled his face into Luke's palm like an adorable kitten.

Calum got on his knees in front of Ashton, and carefully placed his hand on the distressed boy's chest.  
Ashton let out a quiet gasp, so full of pain and anguish, that the three didn't know was even possible. And for it to be coming from Ashton, their happy, giggly adorable older brother, well, they didn't know what to think.

Tears welled in their own eyes as they watched the tears start to stream down their fourth band member cheeks, splashing onto his legs. Michael pulled his head to rest on his shoulders and murmured a few shh's and It's okay, it's only a dream's into his soft, caramel hair.

Calum reached up and shook their beloved drummer's shoulders, figuring that getting woken up was better than whatever night terror Ashton was experiencing. “Ashton. Ashton, c'mon buddy, wake up. Ashton, please wake up. Please.” Calum's voice started getting desperate when Ashton refused to wake up and bring himself and them peace.

When he didn't wake, Calum shook him a bit harder but all he got was a broken sob as Ashton let out a pitiful plea. “No, no. No! Please don't, please. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't”

“Ashton?!” Calum asked, terrified of what he could've done to scare the caramel-haired boy. What could possibly make him get stressed out, upset, and feel the need to apologize? Ashton had never done anything wrong.

Simultaneously, the awake boys decided to comfort the poor boy in their own way, hoping to rid him of his nightmare and into a better dream. Luke wrapped his arms around Ashton's waist and buried his face in the crook of his neck with tears streaming down his face. Michael was holding Ashton's head against his collarbone, and Calum was rubbing up and down Ashton's legs, quietly begging him to wake up through his tears.

Then Ashton let out a scream. A horrible, terrified, heavily laced with terror and pain, kind of scream. Calum, Michael and Luke pulled back from the boy, startled with shock, their blood running cold.

Then the terrified boy started chanting 'No' that ended up turning into screams “No. No. No no no no. No. NO! NO! PLEASE! NO! PLEASE DON'T!” He was full on sobbing by this point. His whole body shaking from crying.

The other three jumped into action, each trying to wake the Ashton up in their own desperate way. Michael was lightly hitting his face, Calum was shaking his legs, and Luke was shaking his shoulders.

After a few fearful minutes, Ashton shot up into a sitting position as his eyes snapped wide open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if you liked it, could you give it kudos and comment?


	3. Cuddles

Ashton's eyes were wide and panicked as a gasp of air was pulled in through his parted lips.

There was a moment of stunned silence with just the sounds of Ashton fighting to catch his breath as the three boys watch him fearfully, glad that he was finally awake.

Calum gently placed his hand on Ashton's knee as Ashton choked on air as he got his breath, just to start sobbing heavily.

Michael and Luke wrapped their arms around his body as they kissed his temples and cheeks, and whispered comforting words in his ear. Calum began to run his fingers through Ashton's soft, golden curls.

Eventually, Ashton's sobs lessened and the hiccups started up.

Ashton hiccupped “You don't hate me?” He asked in a quiet voice. The other three boys were startled.

“What? No, baby, no. What on Earth made you think that?” Luke asked, confused as to why Ashton would think that they hated him.

Ashton turned his head down to look at his hands, not able to make himself look in their eyes. Not just after what he saw in his dream. He was scared that he would see the same fury in their eyes, and that they could see the panic-stricken look in his own.

“I had a dream that you... “He hiccupped “That you... um, you were mad and hated me. You told me that I was, um, that I was stupid and wasn't worth anything. And then you, you-” Ashton's voice broke then, unable to finish the sentence, more tears ran down his face silently.

“What? Ashton, no, you are not stupid or worthless. You are one of the best human beings in this world.” Michael said. He couldn't believe that Ashton would ever have a dream that had them telling him that he was an awful person.

Calum continued on, “You are one of the most intelligent people we know.” It was true if they ever had a problem, Ashton knew what to do, how to fix it.

Ashton kept looking down until Luke cupped Ashton's cheek to make him look up at him. “Ash, you are worth more than anything else to us and we love you so much. There's nothing you could do to make us hate you.”

Ashton gave them a watery smile. “Band cuddle?” He asked quietly.

Michael, Luke and Calum nodded quickly. They really did want to cuddle him right then. He had clearly had a bad nightmare, and they wanted to make him feel better as soon as they could. He had always been there for him, and now it was their turn to be there for him.

They got up off the couch and as they were making their way to Ashton's bunk, Michael threw an arm over his shoulder, pulling him into his side.

They climbed into the small bed and it was a tight fit because it wasn't made for four big boys. But that made it all the better. They wouldn't have any choice but to cuddle in real close. Not that they wouldn't anyway.

They were lying there quietly for ten minutes before Ashton spoke up.

“It felt so real... I was so scared.” His voice was quiet and shay.

“It's going to be okay, Ash. It's over now. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to.” Luke's words were muffled against Ashton's shoulder from where his face was pressed.

“No, I, I have to. I can't stop thinking about it.” Ashton sounded more confident, though the tremor was still obvious.

Luke and Calum shared a look over his head before turning to Michael. “Okay, but only if you are 100 percent sure that it's going to help.” Ashton nodded.

“I was, I woke up tied to a chair and you had poured gas all over me. It was cold and gross. You called me names and were rude and angry. Michael had a knife and he, he cut my arm. Luke slapped me and Calum punched me and it hurt so much. Then, then.” His voice caught as he struggled to keep the sob in. “Then Luke had a match and he, he lit the gas on fire. It felt so real. I could feel the knife in my skin, and the flames. Oh my god, the flames hurt like nothing else ever hurt. I could feel my skin blistering from the intense heat. I thought I thought for sure that that was it. That everything was all a lie and that that was the end.”

The rest of the band was horrified. He dreamed that they hurt him and he actually thought that they hated him so much that they would kill him.

Ashton's sobbing brought them out of their stupor. Someone started speaking in his ear, but Ashton couldn't tell who it was over his crying.

“No, no, Ashton. We don't think that at all. You are one of the most amazing, beautiful people there is. You know how to cheer us up when we're down. You are kind, thoughtful and giving. You put others before you, although it could be a bad thing sometimes, like when you're sick, but that's beside the point. You love everyone and never think harshly about other people. You are funny and silly and can make anyone laugh. You are gentle and care about others so much and it's so beautiful and wonderful to watch you. Your smile lights up the whole room and makes anyone's day better. Your laugh is an amazing sound, and we are so lucky to hear it every day. It's like heaven. Your singing is a voice is like listening to an angel sing. Your hair is so soft and we love to run our fingers through the silky curls. We love everything there is to love about you.”

“Thank you. I love you three so much.” Ashton whispered quietly.

“And we love you too, and never forget it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading my story. If you liked it could you give it a kudos and / or leave a comment.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if I made you cry. I do love Ashton, and don't think any of he things the boys say are true.


End file.
